Calico, yet another cotton weave fabric was manufactured in one or more colors. The name for the fabric was derived from the south Indian port city called Calicut, wherefrom the fabric originated. It is mentioned by historians before the Christian era and praised by early travelers for its fine texture and beautiful colors. Block-printed cottons from Calicut were imported into England c.1630 were called calicuts. The name calico was soon applied to all Indian cottons having an equal number of warp and weft threads, and then to all plain weave cottons.
The bulk of present day cotton fabric is manufactured using a mix of modern technologies and the more demanding and laborious artistic handicraft to render techniques such as printing, embroidering and applique to produce unique and varied designs. This distinguish them from mass produced output.